After SOL activities

I have had over three weeks after my SOL test before school lets out for the summer.  I have had to be very creative to keep my kiddos entertained and hopefully learning a few things too!

The first thing I did, from the suggestion of another Civics teacher, was have the students make an amendment booklet.  They took 7 pieces of paper and folded it in a booklet.  They decorated the front of the amendment booklet.  Then using my document camera, LCD projector and white board we read through each amendment.  I annotated each amendment and we discussed its meaning.

On each page the student wrote the number of the amendment, the year it was ratified, a short description of the amendment and a picture that correlates to the amendment.  It took four or five school days (there was a Math SOL) to complete.

Another activity that I have planned is a short American geography unit.  This past Thursday the students used atlases to label each state and then identify each state capital.  On Friday I had two more maps: one map was for selected rivers and the Great Lakes and the other for mountain ranges. Each day I have used my document camera, LCD and whiteboard to go over the answers.  On Tuesday we will read a selections about Virginia's State Parks and then answer questions about them.  On Tuesday they will have an open note quiz and then we'll play a map race.

What is a map race?  Well, a former colleague told me about them.  I used them also for National Geography Day in November.  You have classroom map on your board (or in my case I will use a computer image projected with my LCD) and then a list of 75 to 100 items on the map.  You have two challengers and then call out a place on the map.  The place could be a city, state, mountain, island, lake, river, etc.  The winner is the person who can put their finger on it first.  Then they get to face a new challenger.  The winner is the person who lasts the longest.   Teacher and student really like it!

Happy Teaching!
C

SOL Update

Wow- it sure has been a long time!  Almost two months since I have posted.  My SOL test was Monday, May 13.  I had a plethora of work to get the kids reviewed and ready for their test.  One thing that I did was make stations for the students. I went back to my teaching roots and designed this lesson.  My first few years of teaching I was blessed to have a job teaching pre-school.  I taught the 4 and 5 year olds M/W/F.  I would use stations to work on the craft, help students with fine motor skills and sharing.

So I figured I could tweak the stations for middle schoolers.  I utilized already created items in the class like our daily warm-ups and I also devised a smart board activity.  The additional stations were Mrs. Roaches' Place (click here to go to her site), creating questions from the SOLs (which were collected and graded) and a matching activity that I had made a few years ago.

First, I divided the students into five groups and then they each had 7 minutes at the stations.  The kids seemed to enjoy it.  However, if you like a classroom that is quiet and organized, prepare yourself for the noise and chaos that will ensue.  However, the kids stayed on task and turn in the questions that I asked for.  The assignment was they had to pick one page from the scope and sequence and write three multiple choice questions that had four options.

The students organized the desks into four groups (the smart board did not need a desk set).  I also needed 7 laptops (no Macs as Mrs. Roaches' Place will not run on a Mac.)  The students were free to play at their own pace at this table.

One more computer was needed for the warm ups as the warm up was on a powerpoint.  One student ran the power point while the others decided what the answer was.

The other two groups were used for the questions and then the matching.

Below are some pictures I snapped.

Happy Teaching!

C

Technology Enhanced Item Questions

Here in Virginia the buzz word (at least here in Bedford County) is TEI or Technology Enhanced Item Questions.  These items are designed to make the students think more about their answer: why do you know this is true?  Math started using these types of questions last year and their scores dropped drastically.  English is up to bat this year and Social Studies is slated for next year.  Because of the drastic drop, English and Social Studies are prepping early to help our students do well.

With all of this advance time I am hoping to prepare my students.  This way when my present students see these questions on their World History II test in two years they will hopefully have a leg up.

This past week I had an activity planned but it iced that morning and we were delayed.  With that delay schedule I only had 35 minutes and something had to go.  *sigh*  The item that had to go was my TEI activity.  This week I am hoping to get to do it Thursday....we'll see.

Now, you maybe asking yourself, "Self, why are these TEI questions on paper??"  And that is a great question.  The most recent Quarterly Assessments had 5 TEI questions on paper and my students actually laughed.  "Mrs. X, what do you mean technology?  It's on paper?"  I explained to them that when they actually get to the SOL test they will be using the computer- which is the technology.  They are clicking and dragging, marking the spot with their mouse, clicking on the right answer, etc.

If you would like more information click here.  This link will take you directly to the Virginia DOE website about the TEI questions.

One pitfall that students, and teachers, need to keep in mind is if the student gets one part of the question wrong then the entire question is wrong.  Also, there could be outliers (wrong answers but the students aren't told that).  An example from the Quarterly Assessment was a Venn Diagram that had The House of Reps, both and then The Senate for the labels on the Venn Diagram.  There were six items such as make laws, representation based on population, 2 per state, has committees, appropriation bills start here and interpret laws.  The students were instructed to draw lines to complete the Venn Diagram.  Well, the last descriptor is for the judicial branch but the directions didn't specifically say "HEY! ONE OF THESE DOESN'T BELONG!".  So if the student got the first five correct and drew a line from "interprets the law" to the Venn Diagram the question has to be counted wrong.

Below are pictures of the TEI question that is a sequencing.  (There are five different types of TEI questions.) The first picture is of the activity and the next one is the correct answer.  You'll see that I put an outlier (from the steps to criminal process) in there.

I typed the directions and glued them to an envelope.  

Here they are in order- I took the outlier out.  

My goal is to have stations for different TEI questions later in the year.  I am hoping they'll be a good SOL review.

Happy Teaching!
C